Son of Navy football coach wants to forge his own path

Ali'i Niumatalolo is a junior and plays middle linebacker. The Broadneck Bruins high school football team practiced Tuesday to prepare for the 2014 season.
(By Paul W. Gillespie, Staff / August 26, 2014)

In sports, as in life, chasing goals and dreams is common. Seeing them fulfilled is the rarity.

Broadneck junior Ali'i Niumatalolo could fulfill a dream for his father, Ken, by applying to the Naval Academy and playing football, but it's not going to happen.

"I'd love to coach my son, but I'm a pretty bad recruiter if I sleep with his mother and I still can't get him to come here," the Navy coach says.

His first name is pronounced "A-Lee-e," and his dream — playing major college football outside of Annapolis — is probable after an impressive summer at a handful of camps and clinics. Like his older brother Va'a, a Broadneck linebacker now playing at Brigham Young, Ali'i is looking to charter his own course.

"Nothing against my dad or the Naval Academy — it's a great school — but I've been under the shadow of my father and brother long enough, " Ali'i Niumatalolo says. "I want to go my own way."

His surname is associated with the new golden age of Navy football, but Ali'i's trademark is bone-crushing hits. Over the past two seasons, he's compiled 70 tackles, 13 for loss, and caused four fumbles.

"Tackles are nice, but I play football to hit," Ali'i Niumatalolo says. "I try to set the tone when I hit people."

The younger Niumatalolo is a captain this season after recording 45 tackles last season. Ten went for losses and he caused three fumbles. He also picked off two passes and recorded a safety.

"You can't coach a kid to love to hit like he does," Broadneck coach Rob Harris said. "He has the chance to be one of the best players I've ever coached in 18 years. His athleticism, size, speed, tenacity ... he's the whole package."

Defensive end Landon Reecher and linebacker Randy Fischer dominated the Bruins' defensive efforts by combining for 167 tackles in 2013. Reecher practically took up an entire zip code on Broadneck's defensive line and Fischer was such a proficient tackler that the Bruins stopped blitzing.

In accepting the torch as the defense's leader, Niumatalolo dropped 15 pounds, getting down to 230 to be faster as the MIKE linebacker.

"The roles they played were different. Landon could fill two spots on the line, whereas Ali'i is flooding the A and B gaps," quarterback Canaan Gebele said. "They cover the same ground but from different spots."

Arundel coach Chuck Markiewicz, the dean of Anne Arundel coaches and a recent county Hall of Fame inductee, game-plans for the Bruins to neutralize players like Niumatalolo specifically.

"Broadneck has a history of big, strong linebackers who show up for the game mad and just get angrier," Markiewicz said. "And he fits the bill. We run the spread offense to keep guys like him from beating on our guys all game long. When we game-plan for Broadneck, we try to get Niumatalolo out of his comfort zone, because you can't run straight into his wheelhouse."

After putting himself in the weight room more often and paying more attention to his diet and conditioning, he'll go both ways this year, playing guard when the Bruins have the ball.

"He's dominant, he's got the skill and talent, so there's no reason he can't do those same things for us on offense," Gebele said. "He's a playmaker, and he can fulfill that role when we have the ball."

When you're the son of a high-profile coach, a surname can create more problems than advantages, something his mother addresses consistently.

"Our children don't just represent themselves, they represent our entire family," Barbara Niumatalolo said. "They have higher standards just because of who their dad is."

Division I football is obsessive by nature. Head coaches are manic in both approach and preparation. Every waking hour is accounted for. There are few opportunities for Ken Niumatalolo to see his son's games. Still, he refused to watch Broadneck's tryouts to avoid the appearance of favoritism.

"I try not to be overbearing. Broadneck has great coaches and Rob Harris does a great job," Ken Niumatalolo said. "When we (Navy) play at home, I'm going to be there for a quarter or half. I almost got kicked out of a game at Broadneck. The game had started and I was watching from the tennis courts above the football field. They wanted me to come through the gate. They thought I was trying to sneak in as a freebie."

With his stock rising and his profile high, Ali'i Niumatalolo will likely leave his father just one option to see him play — on television.

"I'm my own person. I try to play my own style of game, but the one thing my brother and I have in common is we play alike on the field," Ali'i Niumatalolo said. "I didn't know I was going to have the summer I did because I had never played at that level, but I think all along I knew I could compete at that level."

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